Karin Reiss-Haimbala is an Industrial Development Officer at the Division of Energy and Climate Action at the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) in Vienna, Austria. With over 18 years of experience, she is currently managing a portfolio of Sustainable Energy projects and programs with a geographical focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. From 2013 – 2019 she was based at the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) in Praia, Cape Verde and at the SADC Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (SACREEE) in Windhoek, Namibia, where she provided strategic support to the institutional set up of the centres and the development and implementation of regional flagship programs.

Before joining UNIDO, she worked for the Austrian Energy Agency on international collaborations in Energy Policy and Capacity Building in Developing Countries and Countries with economies in transition. She was one of the key experts in the development of the ECOWAS Renewable and Energy Efficiency Policy and Action Plan, which have been adopted by the ECOWAS Heads of States and Governments in July 2013. In her previous position she was a member of the management team for the Concerted Action on the implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive of the European Union. She was also engaged in key activities of the Global Forum on Sustainable Energy (GFSE) and the Focal Point for the Central European Initiative (CEI).